The man leading the campaign to get Boris Johnson into Number 10 has appealed for people to see beyond the “caricatures” of the front-runner for the Tory leadership.
Former work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, was in the north-east yesterday to meet food producers and fishing bosses.
He was appointed chairman of Mr Johnson’s campaign to become Conservative leader and prime minister at the end of last month.
Mr Johnson is the odds-on favourite to succeed Theresa May as prime minister and Jeremy Hunt remains his only opposition for the role.
A postal vote of all Conservative members is under way with the result expected to be announced on Monday, July 22.
A former Tory party leader himself, and a “passionate unionist”, Mr Duncan Smith said he would push Mr Johnson to come north of the border far more often if he were voted in.
Speaking to The Press and Journal in Inverurie, he said: “I would advise him to be up here a lot because Scots need to see who the real person is, not this caricature that is presented up here.
“The man I know, that I have worked with, is passionate about the union and absolutely gets the need for a balanced United Kingdom.
“I think he’ll be coming up here a lot more. People should see him on the streets, he really reacts to people and gets what their needs are.”
In an exclusive interview with the P&J last week, Mr Johnson apologised for any offence he may have caused while the editor of a political magazine.
His output included likening being a Scottish MP to having a “political disability” and saying a Scot shouldn’t be able to become prime minister.
The Number 10 hopeful said he was “sorry if people take offence at distorted quotations from old newspaper articles”.
Mr Iain Duncan Smith added: “I absolutely believe in Boris. The caricatures of him are completely wrong.
“It’s time for the people of Scotland to make their own decision on a person who is absolutely dedicated and passionate about the United Kingdom.”
A recent survey by polling firm Panelbase showed that more than half of Scots voters would support independence if Mr Johnson becomes prime minister.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that a win for the former Foreign Secretary would be “disastrous” for the Conservatives, and strengthen the case for independence.
But Mr Duncan Smith said: “I would not be standing with Boris at all if there was one scintilla of doubt in my mind that he didn’t have the union as his number one priority.
“You’d find me elsewhere.”
